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Howden, Kristin; Ogden, Sri --- "Recent Happenings" [2000] IndigLawB 53; (2000) 5(1) Indigenous Law Bulletin 28


Recent Happenings

Complied by Kristin Howden and Sri Ogden

1 June

Democrat senator Aden Ridgeway called for separate representation through the designation of two seats in each House of Parliament for Indigenous peoples. He stated that this would be a temporary measure until Aboriginal people gained equal opportunity, and were able to increase their representation in main stream political parties. The concept was dismissed by the Prime Minister as divisive.

1 June

The Queensland’s Native Title Resolution Bill 2000 was approved by the federal government. However the final passage of the legislation is unsure as some federal Labor members and the Democrat party are claiming that they will refuse to support the bill as it excludes the right of native title claimants to negotiate after exploration leases are issued.

6 June

A coalition of influential Indigenous leaders including Mr Noel Pearson, Mr Patrick Dodson, Mr Geoff Clark and Senator Aden Ridgeway (via phone) met in Melbourne to endorse the creation of a treaty. Ms Evelyn Scott rejected the push, claiming that it was harmful to the reconciliation process.

7 June

The largest gathering of Aboriginal sportspersons in Australia, The National Aboriginal Rugby League Association knockout carnival, is under threat of cancellation because NSW police say they will be too busy with the Olympic Games to supervise it. The event has been played for the last 30 years and was attended by more than 25 000 people in 1999.

7 June

A new arterial road through Melbourne’s Docklands has been named Wurundjeri Way in honour of the area’s original inhabitants.

7 June

A potential health risk has developed in Kakadu National Park where radioactive uranium tailings have surfaced on a tourist road and spilt into the nearby South Alligator River. The tailings pose a potential health risk to traditional owners, park staff and tourists.

8 June

The Victorian Magistrates Court became the first division of the judicial system to apologise to the Aboriginal community for past injustices. Chief Magistrate Michael Adams handed a deed of apology and commitment to Joy Murphy Wandin, a senior elder of the Wurrundjeri people in Melbourne.

8 June

A 38-year-old Aboriginal man became the sixth Western Australian prisoner to die in four weeks – and the second at the Casuarina Prison in three days.

12 June

Mowarra Ganambarr, a Yolngu elder, was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his lifelong contribution to art and his community. Mowarra has 35 children and is one of only two survivors of the Special Reconnaissance Unit formed to patrol northeast Arnhem Land during World War II.

14 June

Sections of a Northern Territory cattle station will be handed back to traditional Aboriginal owners 22 years after a land claim was lodged. Nearly 8000ha of Rockhampton Downs station, about 100km northeast of Tennant Creek, will be handed over to the Warumungu clan by the Federal Government.

15 June

The Registrar of Aboriginal Corporations released a new training package to help organisations established under the Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976 better meet their reporting requirements. The Federal Opposition suggested that the system itself needs to be reassessed.

19 June

In reaction to the Full Federal Court decision in Western Australia v Ward on behalf of the Mirruwung Gajerrong People, the WA State government is proposing to rapidly process a giant backlog of mining and exploration lease applications in an attempt to make changes before the case goes on appeal to the High Court.

20 June

A native title claim, made by the Karajarri Aboriginal people over land stretching from the Kimberley coast, south of Broome, into the Great Sandy Desert, will go to trial after lengthy negotiations with the State Government broke down following the handing down of the Miriuwung Gajerrong decision by the Full Federal Court.

20 June

A collection of 330 Australian Indigenous human remains, mostly from South Australia, which were held in collections in the United Kingdom were returned to indigenous leaders in Australia. It is suggested that there are around 3000 sets of indigenous remains in 100 public and private institutions throughout Britain. The remains were mainly taken from hospitals, morgues and cemeteries.

21 June

The Anangu Pitjantjatjara landowners in northern South Australia declared more than two million hectares of their traditional land to be a protected area. They have undertaken to care for the land and wildlife using traditional land management techniques in conjunction with Federal Government scientists. The total area of land declared Indigenous Protected Areas in Australia is now nearly 3 million hectares.

21 June

More than 1000 pieces of Aboriginal art were auctioned in Melbourne by Sotherby’s and Deutscher-Menzies, many to foreigner bidders who were planning to take them out of the country. However, changes made last year to the Moveable Cultural Heritage Act mean that around 60 paintings may face bans and have to remain in Australia. An export permit must now be obtained for Aboriginal art works more than 20 years old and valued at $10 000 or more.

22 June

The Victorian Government became the first State or Territory to sign an agreement with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) under special provisions in the ATSIC Act. Premier Steve Bracks and ATSIC chairman Geoff Clark signed a communique outlining a joint commitment to developing a self-sustaining economic base for indigenous Victorians, expanding the Link-up program for members of the Stolen Generation and improving heritage protection.

23 June

Church leaders called for a royal commission into the Western Australian prison system.

23 June

Australia’s first prison exclusively for Aboriginal inmates was opened in north-west New South Wales. The Yetta Dhinnakkal correctional farm at Brewarrina is to be managed by local indigenous couple and will be staffed by a combination of indigenous and non-indigenous staff.

28 June

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Joint Committee on Native Title tabled its 16th report in Federal Parliament. The report confirmed the Government’s view that the 1998 amendments to the Native Title Act do not put Australia in breach of its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

30 June

A Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee found that genocide is legal in Australia. The senate committee urged Parliament to deal with the issue and to consider the Democrat’s Anti-Genocide Bill.

30 June

The Federal Government decided to allow water-skiers to continue using Boobera Lagoon, near Goondiwindi until May 2002. The Lagoon is considered to be a sacred site by local Aboriginal people who have fought for many years to protect the area. Senator Robert Hill, Minister for the Environment and Heritage acknowledged that under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act waterskiing is considered a desecration of the site.


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